bloomingtide

i haven't watched it since eps 50 but even back then the dynamic was already imbalanced with SW doing more and ES so skittish at every turn. So it was to be expected that she would collapse at the mildest inconvenience later on while SW gave most likely waaaay more effort. And yeah, agree regarding secret relationships in dramas. This is why i am glad that in LYOL we have reached the part where everyone knows about the leads' prior secret relationship now (hell even the landlord halmeoni does 😂) bc it is a test of their bond, to stick together through adversity. And i feel from what i read here UF is really missing that.

Lmao i loved how they made sure everyone gets it at the end of eps 6 even if you are not up to speed in BTS lore. (I mean i am neither, but it is nigh impossible to not know dynamite, at least and the year it released, so it clicked instantly with me)

Cleverly done, that reveal, and mutually outed even 😆 I am glad they don't drag that secret out longer. Pacing is really good so far in this show. More please.

i am not having SLS, like ever, but it is really due to jihoon's talent of making both characters distinctive (mannerism, pattern of movement and speech) that i see them as separate entities instead of an actor being both characters, if that makes sense/you know what i mean. And he makes me care about both, even if AH's obsessive and fast love is really off-putting tbh.

yeah would be my guess too since they crawled away in shame with deleting the post lmao

I fail to see him as the poor victim or tragic character people make him out to be. There is duty and there is stupidity and dude always falls into the latter category, not noticing how much he is played and his blind allegiance to his parents put him down a dark path. I don't see him as evil like his mother, but he is morally ambiguous at best and shady due to all the covering up and callous way he acted toward and handled the fact of his grandmother being imprisoned by his own parents, and keeping it all a secret from TH. (I have never forgotten how he watched a beaten up TH either, as he idly drove by in eps 9) You would think he had a vested interest in finding out the truth and hold the culprits accountable whether or not they are family or not (which is the common sense reaction here) instead to lie to and deceive his cousin, maybe both even working together in achieving that. But nope paying hush money to several places and people in power it is and demanding to destroy footage of the accident. And there is of course also the aspect of him wanting to keep that position and thus this is another reason to cover things up. Because with the position at TS he also has several privileges and prestige/power not just duties. And not to forget he also bought a lot of company stocks that further enrich him (both cousins have shares of the company but afaik TH only has the part he inherited from his late parents instead of additional bought ones like TM) Protecting the firm also means protecting his position. Pure workplace politics he (wants to) benefits from, then.

So yeah while dudey dude was manipulated by his mother in some way, he also actively made some very morally questionable choices along the way and now, once more, chose to further cover up for and protect his criminal parents instead to come clean and work together with TH to find the truth. Even if they have nothing to do with the murder of TH's parents in the end (which i don't believe), they still are guilty of kidnapping, forceful imprisonment with drugging over YEARS, corruption (bribes and hush money, blackmailing most likely too) and embezzlement with paper companies overseas in biiiig style. And TM is most likely aware of most, if not all of it. So excuse me if i am not feeling sorry for him at all. He made his bed of thorns himself when he absolutely did not needed to, tbh.

Of course both cousins think they are righteous in their actions, but only one actually is. in a way (while still fumbling in the dark mostly.) And while TH is understandably very emotional about it (it is about his late parents being possibly murdered after all, and with grandma being kidnapped for years) he has a working moral compass that seems to sadly malfunction with TM. Bc as i said before the result does not excuse the (cut.throat) methods. (another issue is of course that they, both of them, never clearly talk or clarify things. See the foundation thing or just now when prompted to do so by TH, instead to reply TM reacts with punching him and tells him to get out. Master of diplomacy as said, lmao)

which is understandable with all that trauma he bears, but it also makes the character akhee necessary to drive the plot forward as his actual persona is rendered too passive often due to that. Akhee is cute but how tf is he deeply in love with her already? They don't know each other at all lol. Ghostie boy is moving way too fast and that is a bit off-putting to me tbh. He is like the dude that rolls out his marriage plans on the first date irl, which yeah 😬 (well technically he even did that with making her consort lmao, duuuuude)

akhee is cute tho, i admit. I bet both of them merge later on in a way

Not korean but i am learning the language for two years now... so i can actually look away from the subs and still often understand most of it. And his words are clearly pronounced and understandable, imo. They even carry the right emotional tone whenever it is needed, so whatever OP said before deleting, i cannot see or rather hear. However keep in mind that i am no native speaker as said and still learning so yeah apply a grain of salt here

Edit: Oh something else i noticed... the rhythm and speed/inflection (or whatever you wanna call it) of words is different whenever he is switching persona. It is hard to explain and maybe pick up on when you dunno korean, but his way of talking changes with whether he is akhee or crown prince. It is good subtle acting tbh

Nice. If there is one thing this show taught me is that I'm so immune to Second Lead Syndrome that i don't even have it when the second lead is played by the same actor 🤣

It is the same writer as in Homemade Love Story, which as a family drama is a complete different genre than her newest work here of course, but i am not surprised to see a strong (mentally as well as physically) female lead with a troubled past featured here as this was also the case in HML and i loved the way the writer developed the characters there. I see the same happening here, and it is the depth for me that i like. It is an intriguing web of motivations and backgrounds that writer nim is weaving here, even if the story itself with betrayal/tyranny, one surviving family member plotting vengeance etc is nothing new. (the spin on how ml is dealing with trauma and the fantasy element are, however.) It is nice to have it not set in joseon for once but in a "fantasy world." Gives the writer more freedom without incurring the netizen's wrath too, of course.

it is a keep your friends close and your enemies closer kinda deal. Playing the long game as she has to trick fate in making sure these two toxic assholes marry instead of her the trashman.

Ji Hyuk is the personification of "he fell first AND harder" and i love that 😁

Yeah, even under the viewpoint of another culture the audacity of this dude to treat his THIRTY FIVE YEARS OLD sister like a teenager incapable of making her own decisions in her love life and telling an equally as old man (TH) to break up with her boggles the mind. Like who died and made you king of their grown ass, mutually consensual relationship???? And the reason he gives is she had such a hard life and should have it easier" is such bullshit too even if it comes from a place of care.

Because guess who made her life a living hell for decades, devaluing her at every turn? Yes, exactly this asshole along with his rotten family who now plays the big protective caring brother in targeting the actual one person who helped her breaking free from the circular abuse of this shitty family. Like i know he is genuinely sorry and cares for his sister, but all this guilt he has for his treatment and negligence of her results in such hypocritical, disproportionate protectiveness and hostility toward the man she genuinely cares about, and that is fully a "you" problem of his that he needs to work on. Best with actually talking to his sister to listen to her side of the story instead of applying these preconceived bs notions about TH and their relationship. But i guess that is easier in assuaging his guilt than actually making the effort to care what HS wants and actually getting to know TH, huh?

Sorry i have a lot of thoughts on that ever since i looked closer at the scenes of these two over at twitter, lol.

https://twitter.com/sundogsnrainbow/status/1745911219389940158

i read from the preview text that she is using filial money for the cafe deposit, aka the money HS left her when moving out i think. But i still think she is being scammed by the real estate lady as it seems too good a deal to be true. Remember Taeho said that her mother will be fine even without financial sense as long she doesn't run her own business. Which happens now soooo yeah 😬 Or maybe it is where she really turns over a new leaf and finds independence, but i truly doubt it for now. At least not without someone else managing it and the finances, so she doesn't cause trouble and debt.

this sounds like a weekender/makjang drama tbh 😆

FR. Time travel sounds like such an exciting concept... until you remember being a woman 💀

"A long time ago mourning was taken seriously"

you spelled "insane" wrong. Jesus Christ

Fair enough 😉

Haesun is really not underrated tho. She is decorated with acting awards, people know and love her acting and tune in for that, and directors want to work with her. She is as established and as highly regarded as an actress in SK entertainment industry as it is possible. If international viewers sleep on her then that's their grave loss tbh.

Indeed. A match made in the seventh ring of hell 🤣